


Let Me Be Your Shelter

by StarryFeathers



Series: Cosmic Dust [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Backstory Building, Female pronouns for Pidge, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, big brother lance shows up, keith and shiro are related, no ships here, pre season 3 during season 2, theres blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryFeathers/pseuds/StarryFeathers
Summary: What happens when the one who always saves needs the saving? They are used to following, used to him doing the saving, but this time it's their turn to bring him home.Alternatively: Shiro should really trust his instincts but the Paladins make him proud.





	Let Me Be Your Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> “Brother let me be your shelter  
> Never leave you all alone  
> I can be the one you call  
> When you’re low  
> Brother let me be your fortress  
> When the night winds are driving on  
> Be the one to light the way  
> Bring you home…”  
> -Brother (NeedtoBreathe)

It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out recon mission. They had just gone in for some intel that was all. The base was supposed to be largely manned by the robotic sentries. They only took one of the lions, Green, after all she was best for stealth work due to the changes Pidge had made. They knew something was wrong the second they touched down. It had been too quiet. There hadn’t been many patrols. At first they considered it a moment of blessed luck granted to them after a series of exhausting bad luck encounters. Shiro had ordered everyone to split up; Lance and Hunk to scout for potential gear or electronics that could be broken down or hacked, Keith was set as a look-out, and Shiro went with Pidge to check the prisoner logs in hopes of finding her father and brother.

All the warning signs were there and despite the nervous unease that had settled over Shiro, or maybe because Pidge was so insistent, he made the anxious decision to continue on. The silence in the empty halls put everyone on edge. After a time Shiro began to regret his decision and vocalized his concerns over the comms to bring the Paladins to high alert.

“This could be a trap,” he had warned, “be on your toes and don’t stray too far.”

For once there had been no arguments and everyone had gone to do their tasks. Keith had stayed with Green and kept a wary eye on their exit while Hunk and Lance rushed off to the check the supply station. Shiro escorted Pidge to the Command room; his nerves growing every more frayed as no one appeared to stop them. When they found the command room empty with the control console abandoned Shiro had tensed and started to voice a very real warning for Pidge to stop.

It came too late.

The explosion sent them both to their knees the secondary explosion made Shiro reach for Pidge and with his Galra arm he threw her clear as shattered metal walls flung themselves at the pair.

“ _Guys get out_ ,” Shiro shouted, more of a terrified scream turned to orders, into comms, “I’ve got Pidge.”

The sounds of tearing, shrieking, and screaming metal was all that could be heard beyond the rippling sound of explosions in the distance. Pidge had been thrown clear of the worst of the initial explosion and had disappeared beyond the command console. The last thing she heard was Shiro _screaming_ before her head slammed into the edge of the command console and she flipped over it.

The room burned, lights flickering and sputtering in their eerie purple but mostly it was dark aside from the fires that raged at the doorway. The room was rapidly filling with smoke and the ceiling was groaning under the strain of maintaining integrity. Rubble blocked the doorway.

A figure in black and white paladin armor was sprawled out across the broken remains of a Galra command console. The flickering lights revealed a twisted frame, fractured armor, and metal protruding from his right shoulder and side. The helmet was shattered all along the right side, the armor across his upper body was severely damaged, and the teal lights on his armor were flickering. The under-suit itself was torn, shredded, or smoking from burns along the right side and back of Shiro’s frame.

 _He wasn’t moving_.

Blood. A lot of it.

More than seemed possible was spattered or oozing around him and overall sickening smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air. Shiro’s body was twisted oddly, his head thrown forward awkwardly with his back, hips, and legs twisted slightly in the opposite direction of his upper body. Chunks of broken metal from the command console jutted upward into and then through his right shoulder as well as his right side.

Shiro stirred slightly, groaning, blood flecking his lips, his eyes opened slowly but rather than their typical warm obsidian they were a dull glazed grey-black. His eyelids fluttered as he seemed to struggle with consciousness.

“P-p-id-ge,” Shiro rasped with massive effort.

He grew slightly pale after that and his eyes slid dangerously close to being closed. Shiro seemed to be gathering strength and after a moment he tried to move but went deathly pale before going boneless against the console once more. He didn’t stop the whimper from escaping and more blood stained his lips.

“P-p…-idge,” Shiro croaked, the strain making his voice crack, “-idge.”

His eyes glazed over as his breathing became more strained. Then a ragged cough accompanied by more blood from his mouth sent spasms of pain across his face. His eyes rolled back as his eyelids fluttered closed. He’d lost the battle with consciousness.

There was a shuffling underneath him minutes later, beneath the remains of the control console, and then a pained groan. Green and white flickered momentarily into view then a rough coughing.

“Shiro?” Pidge’s voice called out nervously, “Shiro are you there? What happened?”

There was no response.

Pidge coughed roughly and made an effort to move the panel off of herself. Shiro moved upward with the panel then let out a low pained groan and Pidge froze momentarily before straining her gaze upward to see the edge of a broken black and white helmet. She squinted in the dying lights of the ruined command room. The fires raging just a bit too close for comfort didn’t provide any better light but she recognized what she was seeing with a wave of dread.

“Shiro?” she asked again, worry creeping into her tone.

_“Pidge? Pidge you there?”_

Static then again.

_“Pidge! Shiro! Are you guys in there??”_

“Lance?” Pidge sputtered, turning her head and then pausing as she realized the sound was coming from the communication system in her helmet.

_“Pidge! Oh thank goodness. Shiro’s not responding. Is he with you?”_

Pidge twisted slightly and managed to work one of her arms free before reaching upward as high as possible. Her finger barely brushed the top of Shiro’s shattered, sparking, helmet. She let out a grunt of frustration.

“He’s here with me,” Pidge coughed, “I think he’s unconscious. He’s not responding and Lance his helmet is busted.”

_“Can you reach him? Are you trapped?”_

“I’m stuck,” Pidge managed, “I can see him but I can’t reach him.”

_“I hate your little arms”_

“Hunk,” Pidge managed with a weak laugh, “I hate them too.”

Pidge went very still for a moment then let out a terrified gasp. The sounds of rubble shifting and clattering to the ground could be heard in the distance. Beyond that a screech of metal on metal and strained grunting. But the silence above on top of the console made her go pale.

“Guys,” Pidge cried out, panic creeping into her voice, “Guys I can’t hear him breathing.”

Silence. But the sound of more rapid movement crushed it quickly. Distantly the sound of grunting got louder but the sound of strained breathing through comms could be heard. It should have comforted Pidge, after all it meant that they were trying to get to her and Shiro, but it didn’t in the slightest. It didn’t help, because Shiro wasn’t moving. There was more scrapping and tearing of metal behind her as a second door was slammed into from the outside. It was slammed into a second time and shrieked before crashing to the floor.

_“Stay calm Pidge I think I see you guys.”_

“Keith?” Pidge managed.

_“Yeah I’m here, I see Shiro. I don’t see you Pidge.”_

“Under him,” Pidge managed, “I think… I think he threw himself in the way. Keith I can’t hear him breathing. He made noise earlier but-”

The sound of approaching footsteps made her pause then the quiet interruption of a familiar voice.

“Easy Pidge,” Keith offered as he knelt beside the trapped girl.

Pidge had never been so relieved to see the red paladin in her life and she let out a sob she hadn’t realized she’d been holding back. He smiled in what appeared to be an effort to be reassuring before leaning down and stretching to offer his hand. She gripped it, trembling, but stared upward at the broken helmet in the edge of her vision. Keith was looking at it too and he looked worried. After giving her hand a squeeze he quickly moved around to get a better look at Shiro and a half choked scream of horror made its way past his lips before he could stop it.

“Keith?” Pidge cried out frantically.

“Shit, Shit, _fuck_ ,” Keith sputtered while moving out of her line of sight.

_“Keith? Pidge? What’s wrong?”_

_“Guys?”_

“Shiro,” Keith ordered while scrambling to his side, “Shiro? SHIRO.”

Panic was setting into the rest of the team as Keith didn’t answer their ever more frantic questions. Keith scrambled over, fingers jamming a bit too harshly against Shiro’s neck, and then with a sob of relief Keith finally answered.

“I’ve got a pulse,” Keith managed, “He’s hurt bad guys. Really bad. We’ve gotta get him to the ship _now_.”

“Keith? How bad is it?” Pidge cried out, guilt coloring her features as tears formed in her eyes.

She didn’t take her eyes off of the broken helmet above her but was also now looking at the red helmet that was just barely in her view. Pidge moved, again trying to wiggle loose, but froze as a pained whimper sounded from above.

“Don’t move Pidge,” Keith ordered, voice rising slightly in panic.

“Is he awake?” Pidge demanded, her eyes wide.

“N-no,” Keith managed, “No he’s out cold.”

Just then the damaged doors screeched as they were forced open allowing Lance and Hunk to enter. Lance went pale and Hunk looked sick at the sight of Shiro’s prone form. The amount of blood visible in the flickering light was enough to express the serious damage.

“Oh quiznak,” Hunk breathed, “Keith _how are we going to move him_. That is bad, oh man, oh man he’s really pale. That’s a lot of blood.”

“Hunk, take a breath man,” Lance attempted to soothe, but he looked just as horrified.

Shiro was _not_ good. His entire frame was completely limp and despite Keith applying pressure to the impaled injuries blood was still oozing from them. Even worse, Shiro wasn’t reacting to the pressure on his injuries. He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t making any sound, and he seemed to be growing paler by the second. Hunk and Lance were rushing forward seconds later; kicking ruble and bits of burning building out of the way as they did. The burnable items in the room were rapidly dwindling but the smoke was making all of them cough roughly.

“Guys!” Pidge sounded frantic her voice going much higher than normal in ever increasing fear, “Guys is he okay?”

“Pidge?” Lance called, straining to find her in the gloom.

“She’s under the console, pinned but not dangerously so,” Keith managed then looked at Hunk, “I need your help. You’re the only one of us strong enough to lift him.”

Hunk looked for a moment like he might be sick but took a shaky breath, squared his shoulders, and then stepped up beside Keith. Lance opted to move to Pidge’s side, he dropped onto his stomach and squirmed as far as his shoulders would allow underneath to grab her hand. She was trembling with eyes glued to the broken helmet above her. Lance took a breath and seemed to focus on the fact that Pidge was sobbing and shaking. Years of helping younger siblings through crying fits came into sharp focus. Pidge was the youngest and although it never really seemed to be acknowledged _she was only fifteen_ and right now she was terrified. In that moment Lance was grateful he had younger siblings.

“He pushed me out of the way,” Pidge sobbed suddenly, “there was an explosion and he-”.

“Shush, easy Pidge, easy,” Lance attempted to soothe, “You know how stubborn Shiro is, he’ll be alright. We just gotta get him back to the castle. Are you hurt? Anything painful you can feel? How are your legs?”

He was terrified and his voice shook slightly but his eyes screamed calm. They were all scared. Shiro was the leader, he gave the orders, he got them out of messes like this not them. They didn’t have to lead like this. They didn’t have to make these decisions. But Shiro was unconscious and they relied on what little experience any of them had. Work together. Figure it out. Get to safety. Pidge seemed to calm slightly, eyes squeezing shut as she took a deep breath, and then nervously began to take stock of her own injuries. Her legs were pinned but by pure luck they hadn’t been broken by the impact of the control console. In fact it appeared to have landed at the perfect angle to prevent crushing her while simultaneously preventing movement.

“Sore,” Pidge finally managed, eyes snapping around her for the first time since noticing Shiro’s broken helmet , “I-I don’t think anything is broken though.”

“Good, good that’s good Pidge,” Lance offered while giving her hand a squeeze and straining upward a bit to look at Shiro.

“We have to get him off this rebar? Or whatever the Galra equivalent is but I don’t see anything that can be used to stop the bleeding,” Keith was saying.

“We could try to cauterize them?” Hunk offered.

“With what?” Keith sputtered.

“My Bayard?” Pidge offered.

Everyone paused and Lance looked at her. Keith and Hunk seemed to have gone still while thinking.

“It gets hot…it’s more like electricity but…it should be hot enough,” Pidge trailed off, then said softly, “but the electric output it gives off might make things worse in the process.”

There was a moment of silence interrupted by the distant sound of metal boots coming down the hallway. Everyone tensed in silent, horrified, understanding. It had been a trap.

“Quiznak,” Lance snarled, “we don’t have time for this. Pidge keep taking deep breaths. I’ve got this guys. Just figure out how to move Shiro.”

Lance dragged himself out from under the console and flipped upward to his feet before summoning his Bayard while changing it into his gun-like blaster. Lance moved quickly to the edge of the room and after peering out he began to fire off rapid shots. He ducked back inside more than once as return fire smacked into the door frame beside him.

“Yeah, guys we gotta go,” Lance called, “there are a lot out there.”

Keith cursed then leaned forward to stuff his fingers against Shiro’s neck once more. Pidge and Hunk both started talking at once.

“Guys just get me out so I can use my Bayard,” Pidge begged, “if we hurry-“

“We can’t get you out first Pidge,” Hunk interrupted, “If we move the console with him still…on it…it’ll do more damage. We’ve gotta move him first.”

“His pulse is getting weaker,” Keith stated with the flat tone of someone barely holding together his rapidly fraying nerves.

“Okay,” Pidge offered, “Okay I have an idea.”

“Whatever it is we gotta hurry guys,” Lance called from the door, ducking back inside as a blaster round from outside narrowly missed his helmet.

“Hunk, lift Shiro then Keith pull me out,” Pidge ordered, “Hunk you’ll have to put pressure on his injuries the second you lay him down. Keith fast as you can.”

“It’s the only plan we got,” Keith agreed before scrambling back around and reaching in to grab her arm while bracing himself.

Hunk leaned over Shiro, positioning his hands so that he’d be able to move the unconscious paladin with what would be hopefully minimal damage.

“Now,” Pidge ordered.

Hunk moved, dragging Shiro upward with a grim determination. He nearly let go as Shiro screamed back into consciousness. Shiro’s eyes snapped open and his scream continued but Hunk kept moving despite the tears rolling down his cheeks in distress. Shiro choked, shuddered, and then went limp. His eyes fluttering closed as he lost consciousness again. Pidge let out a sob and Hunk was crying as he moved Shiro to the floor rapidly pressing his hands to Shiro’s shoulder and side.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, sorry oh man I’m so sorry,” Hunk was rambling, “man oh god that must have hurt I’m so sorry.”

Keith put his hand against the console and pushed upward then as it rocked upward enough for Pidge to pull her lower body free he let go long enough to yank her out. There was a screech of metal and a crash but Pidge found herself on top of Keith as he rolled to move them both out of the way. Pidge squirmed loose as Keith started coughing. He winced slightly, obviously Pidge being slammed into his chest had knocked the wind out of him but he was recovering quickly. Pidge scrambled over to Shiro was went ghost white in horror when she saw the blood and injuries but summoned her Bayard.

“Shiro, I’m sorry, this is probably going to really hurt,” she whispered then, “Keith, Hunk hold him down so he doesn’t move too much…I don’t know if this will cut him.”

Keith pressed his hands down onto Shiro’s shoulders as Hunk leaned heavily across Shiro’s waist and legs.

He was bleeding freely now and growing rapidly paler. Pidge worked quickly pressing the edge of the sparking Bayard to Shiro’s side first then his shoulder. He woke up again, screaming, body bucking frantically in an attempt to escape the pain but Hunk and Keith managed to just barely keep him still. Pidge was sobbing as she finally pulled away, then yanked off her helmet and eased it onto Shiro’s head in an effort to protect his damaged skull. Shiro went limp, whimpering in pain, eyes glazing over as he started to lose his battle with consciousness. He seemed to struggle a minute, fighting to stay awake, but it wasn’t a battle he seemed capable of winning with how weak he was. Before he gave in he seemed to recognize who was around him.

“Pro’d o–ou,” Shiro slurred before his eyes slid shut.

“Hang in there man,” Hunk attempted to soothe while grimacing.

“Hunk can you carry him while Pidge, Lance and I make way to the exit?” Keith asked.

“Depends on how you want me to carry him,” Hunk offered, “Fire-man style, over my shoulders? No problem but like bridal-in-my-arms style will be more difficult. I mean possible but I’ll move a lot slower and I’ll have to take a break probably. I don’t know if he’s stable enough for the fire-man style.”

Keith seemed to consider the options even as he summoned his Bayard and got to his feet.

“At this point, speed is more important,” Pidge interrupted, “We’ve gotta get him to the castle and the healing pods. _Now_. That head injury worries me more than anything else.”

That they all agreed on. Shiro’s head was a mess of blood and cuts along the right side where his helmet was broken. It looked very much like something heavy had slammed into it. With all the rubble and chunks of ceiling around them it would have been impossible to pinpoint exactly what had hit Shiro but it was obvious something had.

“Lance get ready to move,” Keith ordered, “we’re going out the way I came in. I’ll take the front, Pidge stay close to Hunk, Lance watch our backs.”

Hunk took a deep breath and hoisted Shiro up over his shoulders. Shiro groaned but didn’t regain consciousness. Hunk gripped Shiro’s legs with one arm and pinned them against his chest to stabilize him. Pidge quickly reached up before Hunk finished standing and adjusted Shiro’s head so the injured side wouldn’t get jostled or his breathing wouldn’t get cut off against Hunk’s back.

“We’re moving Lance,” Keith ordered and for once Lance didn’t argue.

“Right now, I’m really glad we only brought the green lion,” Hunk panted as he ran, “I mean it was supposed to be a nearly empty base and  if we had all the lions-.”

Keith grunted in agreement as he rushed ahead to cut down a few Galra drones. Pidge stayed close, her eyes snapping between the pale features of the black paladin to the hallways around them. They got lucky, most of the soldiers and drones had been coming from the other direction. It seemed that the explosives on this side of the base hadn’t all gone off like planned.

Pidge ran beside Hunk wincing as her ribs protested slightly but she looked determined to keep up the pace. Lance rushed behind them, pausing every few feet to shoot at drones or soldiers behind them. They made it to the green lion by the skin of their teeth and Shiro wasn’t responding at all any more. No groans or whimpers of pain. Nothing.

Lance was shouting Shiro’s status to Allura and Coran as they ran to the Green Lion. Keith was shouting for them all to hurry.

“Lance go ahead with Pidge and Hunk they’ll need an extra set of hands,” Keith ordered as he scrambled up the jaw ramp for Green.

Lance diverted, bolting with long strides after Hunk and Pidge, pausing to raise his Bayard-blaster and send a Galra soldier who had gotten a bit too close to its knees.

Lance was the last one up the ramp and continued to offer covering fire even as the ramp closed and the Green Lion sent droids scattering with a sweep of her paw. Keith rushing up alongside him towards the cabin. Once the ramp was closed Lance deactivated his Bayard and scrambled into cabin where Pidge was urging the Green Lion to move. Hunk had lowered Shiro to the floor and Keith was ripping open a bag of first aid supplies. Lance began quickly but carefully removing the remains of Shiro’s paladin armor. He struggled to remove the upper half of Shiro’s under-suit and gagged slightly when he saw the extensive bruising. Keith was ripping open packages of gauze like material before gently removing Pidge’s helmet and pressing the material to the side of Shiro’s head.

“Is he okay?” Pidge asked, clearly alarmed at the noise Lance had made.

“Focus on flying Pidge,” Lance ordered, then softer, “He’s still breathing.”

“We gotta wake him up,” Hunk stated, “head injuries, you gotta make people stay awake right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Keith agreed but seemed to hesitate.

“Yeah, uhh, okay,” Lance leaned over and began lightly tapping on the less injured side of Shiro’s face, “Come on man, Shiro, you gotta wake up. You hit your head really hard man, you gotta wake up.”

Keith’s voice broke ask he spoke going slightly pale, “Takashi, Takashi you gotta wake up dude.”

Everyone blinked in surprise but Shiro’s head moved slightly, his eyes fluttering. Keith kept going,he kept talking, and Shiro seemed to respond with glacial slowness. They’d never heard Keith call Shiro that before and it took a moment to register that _it was a name_. Shiro’s name.

“Takashi, come on you useless excuse for an uncle,” Keith growled out, “You’re going to bail on me now? Come on, _Wake Up_.”

There was a weak groan in response. Hunk hesitated before pulling a thin blanket over Shiro’s trembling frame and resting a hand on Shiro’s left shoulder where he hadn’t been as severely injured. Lance was pulling chunks of what looked like gauze free and then carefully pressed the wad to Shiro’s side and shoulder while moving the blanket carefully. Shiro whimpered in response.

“Come on, you’re always talking about how you’re a better man than your brother,” Keith scolded, “Are you better than my useless father or not?”

Shiro groaned again and he seemed to make a massive effort to open his eyes. They fluttered open but were unfocused and full of pain. Pidge turned slightly and after seeing that Shiro’s eyes were open she refocused on her chatter with Allura to inform the princess of what was going on.

“K-keithh,” Shiro slurred out, “d-don’t call me…n-not…m-brother-“

“I’ll call you whatever the hell I want unless you don’t stay awake,” Keith snapped while looking very much like he was trying not to cry.

Shiro seemed to arch slightly off the ground and let out a strained cry but he managed to keep his eyes open. It looked to be more of an effort than any of them dared to believe. Shiro was fighting tooth and nail to stay awake. Lance and Hunk kept him from moving too much and Keith firmly pressed the bundle of gauze-like cloth to Shiro’s head.

“Almost there!” Pidge informed.

They hit the hanger bay seconds later. Shiro was fading again, eyes glazing over, slumping with his head tilting to the side.

“Stay awake _Takashi_ ,” Keith ordered.

Shiro struggled, eyelids fluttering as he rasped out a breath but even as Pidge landed and jumped from her chair he was slipping back into unconsciousness. Hunk and Lance looked worried but Hunk moved to lift Shiro again. Keith hovered close, eyes snapping frantically over Shiro’s broken frame.

“T’r’d” Shiro slurred in reply as his eyes fluttered shut just as Hunk got his arms under the older man.

Lance lightly patted Shiro’s face as Hunk lifted him, causing just enough of a slapping sensation to keep Shiro aware. Keith was still scolding the older man but the fear in his face was obvious.

“Come on man you gotta hang in there,” Lance ordered to Shiro.

“Takashi don’t you fucking dare,” Keith ordered.

Shiro groaned in response but didn’t otherwise react. As Hunk exited the Green Lion Allura was sprinting over with Coran rushing into the hanger behind them. Coran seemed to be holding what appeared to be a stretcher of some sort which he put down and helped Hunk move Shiro to as soon as they were all close enough. Pidge was frantically hovering at the edges of the group looking guilty and distressed. The next few minutes were a rushed blur of frantic activity as they got Shiro to the med bay, changed into the cryo-suit, and then into a cryo-pod. Allura rushed off to move the castle once she was certain Shiro was secure. After what seemed like hours, but was really barely twenty minutes, Shiro’s vitals began to stabilize and finally everyone relaxed. Pidge burst into hysterical tears that led to a hug from Hunk and Coran. Keith collapsed into sobs in front of Shiro’s healing pod. Lance, although shaken and pale, dragged Keith into a hug and let the red paladin cry.

“He’s the only family I have left” Keith choked out, “I thought he was dead when I saw him…I almost lost it. My dad just up and disappeared when I was eight. My grandparents, and Shiro’s parents took me in but I wasn’t the best behaved kid. I wanted my dad. I wanted answers to why he left. Shiro was under so much pressure to _be the better son_. To live up to the expectations of his parents. I didn’t want anything to do with expectations. I kept running away and Shiro was always the one who’d go find me and bring me home. He wouldn’t give up on me. It was like having an older brother not an uncle. One time when I was ten I walked in on Shiro and my grandparents in the middle of a screaming fight and I just… _I just ran_. Shiro found me a few days later and brought me home. Made me promise to behave. He’d been arguing with them about letting me stay. _I was too much trouble_ and Shiro was away most of the time at the Garrison. Shiro was the youngest his parents were older when he was born.”

“You don’t have to tell us this if you don’t want to,” Lance whispered, looking very much like he felt like he was violating something, “you don’t have to man.”

“I-I need to say it,” Keith sobbed, “because it’s my fault…it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t snuck out that night I could’ve woken them up. I could have saved them. There was a fire next door…it caught our tree on fire and one of the branches fell onto the roof. I came home the next morning to find Shiro standing outside screaming and crying and begging people to tell them where we all were. When he saw me he just _couldn’t stop screaming_ and wouldn’t let go of me. They’d told him only a few minutes before that his parents were dead…I just I could have woken them up if I hadn’t left.”

Everyone was quiet but didn’t dare interrupt as Keith kept sobbing out his story. Pidge was looking distressed and guilty for her part in the events that led up to this break down but was now moving a hand out to reach for Keith’s shaking shoulders.

“Shiro-shiro tried to take me to the garrison with him. Tried to make arrangements for me to live on base with him but he was only seventeen at the time and child services wouldn’t let him. He fought back and tried to hang onto me and I just _I’ll never forget the look on his face_ when they took me away,” Keith was wailing now, releasing years of grief and guilt in one unending stream of desperate vocalization, “When he turned eighteen he managed to get me back but he was different. He wouldn’t let me call him Takashi. He said it was bad luck. The last person who called him that died. He made me call him Shiro and I just agreed. _He knew, he knew I left that night. He knew I ran away._ When I was old enough he got me into the Garrison classes. He was never really the same…he didn’t joke as much anymore and he was so serious. When he told me he was taking the Kerberos mission I told him…I told him...I-I… _said he wasn’t any better than my father and he was just leaving me too_. I thought I killed him when I heard about the crash. I thought it was my fault. Then when I saw him earlier I just I couldn’t breathe because so much of his memory is missing still. He barely knows who I am. I didn’t want to lose my uncle again...I thought if I used his real name it-it would make him mad enough to wake up…”

Coran, Pidge, and Hunk had moved over then along with Lance they held Keith as he broke down into complete hysterics, no longer able to form words. Pidge squirmed close and held onto him. The two were locked into a tight embrace and Keith kept telling her through choked sobs that it “wasn’t her fault” because “Shiro’s an idiot with a hero complex”.  

“Oh kids,” Coran soothed, still attempting to hold all of them at once, “it’s going to be alright.”

It took time, more time that Coran seemed comfortable with as his worry sent lines into his face, but finally Keith slumped over in an exhausted heap against his friends. It was only then that the other four finally let Coran check them over for injures.

Pidge’s legs were badly bruised, her ribs bruised but not broken, and she had a bump on her head that didn’t look too serious. Lance was all bruises and a few scrapes on his chin, Hunk was mostly just shaken, and Keith despite being severely rattled had managed to slip by with nothing more than seriously rattled nerves, a broken helmet, and a headache. They had all inhaled a bit too much smoke but were no longer coughing. None of them wanted to leave the medical bay. None of them wanted to leave Shiro but Coran shooed them out after a while.

“Staring at him in there isn’t going to help anything,” Coran scolded gently, voice soft but firm, “go clean up and get something to eat.”

When the other four paladins finally slipped away Coran turned to look at Shiro in the cryo-pod. Vitals had stabilized and the injuries were slowly knitting back together. Some of the bruising was even starting to face already.

“Oh lad, you scared them mightily today,” Coran murmured, “but I’ll eat my moustache if they didn’t do well considering. You did a good job teaching them to work together. You did a good job lad.”

Coran heaved a sigh and placed a hand on the front of the pod but offered a smile to the unconscious figure within. Coran turned away after a few minutes then shuddered at the bloody mess of broken armor and shredded bodysuit. Coran grimaced then after straightening up he began cleaning up the blood. By the time he had finished and had taken the broken armor away to be looked over later it was very late. Even so it didn’t surprise him to find a bundle of blankets and paladins on the floor in front of Shiro’s cryo-pod when he returned to the medical bay. Coran stepped around them carefully, checked on Shiro’s vitals, nodded then after pausing to adjust the blankets around the younger paladins he left the room. The lights dimming as he tapped out a command.

Allura met him in the hallway and looked relieved as he offered a smile.

“Oh don’t worry Princess, he’s a tough lad, he’ll be alright,” Coran soothed.

Even after thanking him and offering a smile she entered the medical bay and sat down outside of the cryo-pod as well. Coran continued on his way checking over the castle, stopping periodically to check on the group in the medical bay or to look over the readouts on the cryo-pod.

It was four days later that Shiro staggered out of the pod and into the waiting arms of the younger Paladins. Keith started lecturing immediately through his tears and Pidge just started crying all over again. Hunk and Lance clung tightly and didn’t say anything. Shiro managed to drop to his knees without dislodging any of them and although still slightly disoriented he managed a weak smile as he realized who was holding onto him. He pulled them tight and it was then that Hunk and Lance broke into sobs as well. As he held them he hummed something soothing while squeezing his eyes closed to hide his own tears.

“I’m proud of you guys,” he murmured which brought on another round of sobs, “you did good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look I’m crying. I got to thinking you know everyone is always being saved by Shiro what if there was a point where they literally couldn’t rely on him? (I mean Shiro's a badass but angst). Thus this story was born. Also it allowed me to explore my headcannon/theory that Shiro is Keith’s uncle and why precisely Shiro doesn’t use his first name. Okay first time posting on here so uh be nice? Sorry if the formating is wonky. Learning the site still.


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